Claims that Switzerland is “paternalistic” in its approach to returning stolen assets to their rightful countries are simplistic, argues Senior Asset Recovery Specialist Oscar Solórzano in this opinion article for Swiss news and information platform Swissinfo. The article is available on the Swissinfo site in German and Spanish.
What does the web of connections look like that underlies grand corruption and money laundering schemes and the abuse of offshore financial centres? Who are the people involved, how do they interact and what do they do?
And what insights can we draw by looking at complex corruption and money laundering schemes from the perspective of social networks, rather than solely individuals?
These questions are at the heart of a new analysis of the so-called Lava Jato or Odebrecht scandal that has engulfed Latin America.
This working paper is based on an empirical investigation of corruption and illicit exchange related to the so-called “Lava Jato” or “Odebrecht” scandal. Focusing on former Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo and his laundering of bribes obtained from the construction giant Odebrecht, the analysis aims to test the usefulness of applying a network lens to better understand the mechanisms underlying grand corruption cases.
The Siemens Integrity Initiative is boosting the Basel Institute’s capacity to promote anti-corruption Collective Action with an additional USD 3.5 million in funding under its “Golden Stretch” round.
Money laundering risks evolve fast, as do the tools and data available to assess them. That is why the Basel AML Index – the Basel Institute’s flagship index of money laundering risks around the world – updates its methodology every year, following an in-depth review with a group of experts from diverse backgrounds.
Twenty-five practitioners from 12 countries gathered online on 29 June for the first virtual meeting of the new Knowledge Community on Asset Recovery in Latin America.
An initiative of the Basel Institute’s International Centre for Asset Recovery, the regional Knowledge Community provides a collaborative space for interaction between leading practitioners in the field of asset recovery and international judicial cooperation in criminal matters.
This quick guide explains how investigators and prosecutors can use Source and Application of Funds analysis to inform corruption and money laundering investigations and prosecutions and to generate evidence for use in court.
The method enables anti-corruption officers to build financial profiles of suspects by systematically calculating the amount of money that the suspect has accumulated and spent during a particular period, compared to their legal and known income.
At a Basel Institute-hosted webinar on illicit enrichment on 30 June 2021, practitioners from Uganda, Kenya and Mauritius agreed that illicit enrichment laws have significant potential to help their countries – and others – target corruption and recover stolen assets. But, they say, significant hurdles still need to be overcome, especially in transnational cases.
This Siemens Integrity Initiative Annual Report 2020 gives an overview of Collective Action activities at Siemens.
As of March 2, 2021, around USD 98,5 million has been committed to 77 projects in more than 40 countries under the Siemens Integrity Initiative First, Second and Third Funding Rounds.
This report contains details of the Collective Action Initiatives selected in the Siemens Integrity Initiative Third Funding Round and looks forward to the final phase of the initiative, the Golden Stretch Round.
A new short report on gendered corruption highlights the urgent need for more research and policy action on non-monetary corruption affecting women, such as sextortion and so-called double bribery.